Parliament today passed a resolution calling for the release of Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Liu Xiaobo.
The resolution, which passed unanimously, is worded thus:
“Parliament celebrates that Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his fight for human rights in China. Parliament demands the Chinese government release Liu Xiaobo from custody and in so doing show respect for human rights.”
The resolution was submitted by the Foreign Affairs committee yesterday. On the floor of parliament today, it took very little discussion for all 32 members of parliament present to vote in favour of the measure.
Last month, Reykjavík mayor Jón Gnarr, meeting with Chinese officials, surprised them with a letter calling for the “immediate and unconditional release” of dissident writer Liu Xiaobo.
Liu Xiaobo has long called for democratic reforms and an end to one-party rule in China. He was arrested and sentenced in December 2009 to eleven years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power”, in a trial condemned by the west as a sham.